BIOLOGICAL APPROACH- Holzel et al(Mindfulness and brain scans) Flashcards
State the psychology being investigated (terms)
- Localisation of function (brain scans)
-Mindfulness
Describe localisation of function
This is the way particular brain regions are responsible for different activities. They can be investigated through different scanning techniques.
What are the 2 scanning techniques that can investigate localisation of function as well as what was used to measure brain structures changes
- MRI and FMRI
(Function and structural) - Voxel- based Morphometry
Describe mindfulness
A stress reduction technique used to improve well being by meditation which aims to increase awareness of the present moment, enabling the person to view themselves in a compassionate way
Describe gray matter
- A tissue in the brain and spinal cord that plays a crucial role in allowing one to think, learn and control their body
- It contains several functions such as memory and muscle coordination as well as our cognition
How did they distinguish between grey matter and white matter
They used the voxel based morphometry (VBM) plainly focusing on the ROIs and the whole brain.
State 2 aims of the study
- Identify the changes in specified brain regions and the whole brain by comparing grey matter concentration before and after an 8 week mindfulness course.
- a comparative study to assess th effectiveness of mindfulness training on stress reduction.
- To compare the entire brains of those who were put in the mindfulness training group and control group
What were the 2 IV of the study
- Participants who received MBSR(mindfulness training) VS those who didn’t (control group)
- Data collection time (pre- time point VS post-time point)
How was data collection time operationalised
data collected 2 weeks beginning of the 8 weeks study period and 2 weeks after it finished
What type of experimental design was it
Independent measures design
State the features of the sample and which sampling technique was used
- Opportunity sampling
- 33 (initially 35)
- ages 22-55 years
- all right handed to investigate left side of brain
- all recruited from 4 MBSR courses from the centre of mindfulness at the university of Massachusetts
- all individuals reported to be physically and psychological healthy with no medication
- all were either referred to by their doctor to take the course or wanted to take the course
what were the further 4 inclusions for each participants
- no meditation classes in the past 6 months
- no more than 4 classes in the past 5 years or 10 classes in their lifetime
- No contradictions for MRI scanning
- commitment to attend all 8 classes and complete the daily work
Describe the experimental group
- average age of 38 years
- 6 males (initially 8) and 10 females
- average years of education 17.7 years
- 13 caucasian
- 1 black
- 1 asian
- 1 multi ethnic
Describe the control group
- average age is 39 years
-average years of education is 17.3 years - 13 caucasians
- 2 African Americans
- 2 Asians
1- Hispanic
Describe the FFMQ (five facet mindfulness questionnaire)
-on a 5 point rating scale: 1 (never or rarely true) and 5(very often and always true)
- It included 39 items that measured:
- observations (thoughts)
- descriptions (describing the thoughts)
- acting with awareness (attentiveness)
- non-judging (non- criticising to oneself)
- non- reactivity (thoughts can drift in and out
How did they opperationlaise the mindfulness of each participant
- How HIGH or LOW they scored in the FFMQ
- the 5 categories were added up to get the persons total FFMQ score
What referred to a “reverse score” in the FFMQ
- There were some instances that showed a mindful person would select a “Never or rarely true” for a 5 rather than a 1 in the previous questions e.g “I am easily distracted” showed a reverse score
what were the 2 main Brain regions of interest
- Hippocampus and insulae
What were the experimental group given in order to complete the exercises at home
- a 45 mins audio recording of guided mindfulness exercises e.g yoga and meditation
what was the approximate duration between the pre test/ first scan and post- test/ final scan
56 days!!! (experimental)
66 days!!! (control)
Why did the control group complete the FFMQ again at the end
- To check whether there had been an increase in scores in order to see whether the MBSR training actually had an impact or not.
Describe the 3 techniques used in the MBSR training
Body scan: gradually feeling small sensations in the body which leads to further awareness of the body/mind
Mindful yoga: this training involves the person being fully aware and present as well as self compassion with an acceptance of the body strengths and limitations
sitting meditation: this allows a gradual awareness of the conscious and our senses
mention how the study was standardised
- used same FFMQ( standardized rating scale) e.g. FFMQ had a correlation of +0.87 across all 8 questions in “acting with awareness”
- The use of the MRI which was either 2 weeks before training and 2 weeks after
- the experimental group was exposed to the same training techniques for the same duration
Mention how the study was NOT standardised
The time spent on the mindfulness training for each individual was different as this had to be implemented in their everyday lives
State the 6 results of the study
- There was improvements in the FFMQ scores with the exp. group compared to the pre-test scores
- No significant difference between the control group and exp. group at the beginning
- No significant changes in the grey matter concentration for the control group
- there was significant increase in grey matter for the exp. group
- No increase in grey matter in the insulae due to the short period of time
- No correlation found between Grey matter conc. and amount of time spent in MBSR
- No parts of the brain showed a decrease in grey matter Except for the control group in their PCC
Which ROIs in the study was there significant increase in grey matter
- left hippocampus
- posterior cingulate cortex
- temporal parietal junction
- lateral cerebellum
- cerebellar brainstem
State the 4 conclusions from the study
- structural changes in the ROI showed an increase in grey matter after an 8 week period of MBSR
- due to the hippocampus being involved in learning and memory, their was an increase in grey matter due to the MBSR being a learning experience
- no changes in the insulae due to the 8 week period being too short to show any change
State a point for Nature
+ structural plasticity/ there was changes in grey matter conc. in key brain regions
State a point for Nurture
+ the use of the MBSR training techniques which had to have the participants learn how to deal with stress
Situational VS individual
Situational- They were either in the exp. group or control group and that affected their increase in grey matter
Individual- participants chose the exercise that they preferred and for how long and how regular they did them differed
How can this study be applicable
- MBSR training can be used to help people reduce stress improve their wellbeing e.g Yr 12 psychology students
- Organisations can apply this to their employees who may be under stress
Give strengths of the study
- Highly standardised to test for reliability
- No previous mindfulness training over the past 6 months
- use of independent measures design so less order effects
- Generalisability as it is diverse
- high ecological validity as people naturally go for meditation, yoga.
- Use of MRI was objective
Give weaknesses of the study
- The amount of time spent on exercises was not standardised
- use of self reports (subjective)
- Generalisability as few sample
- Low ecological validity with the use of MRI
- weaknessof IMD- personal traits
Describe the ethics in the study
- Protection from psychological harm (due to the scanning and claustrophobia from the MRI)
- Informed consent
- MBSR course prices were reduced
State 1 weakness and 1 strength of using a longitudinal study
+ Can collect in-depth data for a long time so that behavioural changes can be recorded (structural plasticity)
- Can sometime lead to participant attrition whereby the participants end up leaving the study which lowers the generalisability
Why was the control group described as a waitlist group
- This is because of how similar they were to the experimental group and therefore met the same criteria as them.
describe how participant variables were controlled
- participant varibales were controlled using a repeated measures design by testing the same people twice
not much difference between the 2 groups such as age and education background
what were the mean number of each mindfulness exercise done
Body scan- 699
Yoga- 327
Sitting meditation- 332
which items in the FFMQ showed an improvement in scores after the training
- acting with awareness
- non judging
- Observing
